The mysterious Instagram account of a Chicago artist has produced breathtaking banality in the form of daily ‘grams of the tar-clad roof of an institutional building along the North Side lakeshore, its punctum always being the eponymous rooftop air conditioning unit of an unknown building at Loyola University. This summer, her/his accompanying comments to a series of photo posts dove into the absurd details of the Peter Doig authenticity case, one of the strangest legal battles in the annals of contemporary art. Loyola Condenser, whoever it is, visited the public hearings each day, writing meticulous commentary that wove keen observation with insightful art world discourse on the question of authorship, authenticity and originality. The art market, carefully considered, revealed itself as a key antagonist in Condenser’s narrative.
Fear on LSD: Based on a “Terrifying” True Story “Newcity,” I tell my wife as we turn northbound onto Jean-Baptiste Pointe DuSable Lake Shore Drive, “is doing a special issue on fear.” “Oh,” she says, “that’s right up your dark alley. You’re afraid of everything.”
